Thursday, March 5, 2009

POSTING 1: READING FOR INFORMATION

BARACK OBAMABarack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2009. The son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas, he is the first African-American to ascend to the highest office in the landHe is also the first new president since terrorists attacked New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, the first to use the Internet to decisive political advantage, the first to insist on handling a personal smartphone while in the White House. So striking was the novelty of his rise that he embraced it himself: as a candidate he called himself “a skinny kid with a funny name” and the theme for his campaign was “change.” It was a theme with deep resonance for a country enmeshed in what was widely believed to be the worst downturn since the Great Depression. Abroad, many challenges loomed: the war in Iraq, the worsening conflict in Afghanistan, the repercussions from Israel's broad assault on Gaza, the threat of terrorism and the increasing signs that the economic woes that began on Wall Street had spread across the global economy. Mr. Obama arrived at the White House with a resume that appeared short by presidential standards: eight years in the Illinois State Senate, four years as a senator in Washington. He had managed to wrest the Democratic nomination from a field of far more experienced competitors, most notably Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom he outlasted in what became an epic primary battle. And he defeated Senator John McCain, the Republican of Arizona, by an electoral margin of 365 to 173, while outpolling him by more than eight million votes. During the campaign, Mr. Obama laid out a set of large promises that were solidly within the traditional agenda of the Democratic Party, with plans to offer health insurance to all and reduce carbon emissions at the top of the list. At the same time, he proposed moving toward what was sometimes called a post-partisan landscape, appealing to voters of all stripes to come together. As he took office, voters seemed cautiously optimistic, with high hopes for the Obama presidency mixed with a sense that complicated problems would take years to resolve. Republicans attributed Mr. Obama's victory primarily to a dismal trifecta: the cratering economy, an incumbent president, George W. Bush, with near-record disapproval ratings and a series of stumbles by Mr. McCain's campaign. But even his opponents acknowledged that Mr. Obama had run a remarkable campaign, highly disciplined in its message, relentlessly focused on building a field organization that was second to none and unprecedentedly successful in fundraising, particularly over the Internet. In the weeks after the election, the Obama team tried to bring the same level of focus to the transition, moving rapidly to name a large roster of nominees to posts large and small. He dipped deeply into the pool of Clinton-era officials, beginning with his former rival, naming Mrs. Clinton to be his secretary of state. While he resisted calls to involve himself publicly in many of the pressing issues of the moment, declaring repeatedly that "we only have one president at a time," Mr. Obama began negotiations with congressional leaders on a massive economic stimulus package and hit the road for campaign-style events to build support for the $825 billion bill introduced by the House on Jan. 15, 2009.

MY FEEDBACK:This piece of material that I found on the Internet is about the current US President Barack Obama. I am an avid follower of the now US President Barak Obama. I got interested in this fresh face during the US Presidential campaign last year. I remember hogging the television set just to watch this man of caliber and authenticity give his speech. His calm and collected demeanor really interested me. Even when people were shooting bad press at him, he never took that as a hindrance towards his aim to grab the seat at the White House. Obama is the first Black President to rule the United States of America. This just goes to show that America is now opening its doors to a whole new era that appeals to both the Whites and the Blacks. He is also a Democrat that had won the hearts of many republicans too. His great and productive ideas of change and betterment for the United States of America in my opinion was one of the reasons why he was elected as the President. He really appealed to the younger generation as he was young, insightful and promised to bring drastic changes to the United States of America. Based on the text that I have found on the Internet on him, I found that he is a dedicated person who devotes his life to the safeguard of the country. He is a shining example of a man that is truly dedicated to his job at hand. Together with his wife Michelle Obama who is the First Lady, they make a powerful team that is destined to bring change to the United States of America. By reading this piece of information online about him, it really refreshed my mind about this very powerful man. I always thought that I knew this man in and out, but, the fact remains that there is so much that I have not known about him yet. Thus, to make myself clearer about this very interesting figure, I did spend some quality time surfing the net and found many links that can tell us a whole lot about Barack Obama.

Last but certainly not least, based on my online reading for information on Barack Obama, I have somewhat gained a lot of information on this person. Barack Obama is a very interesting person to read about. Thus, it was good to spend some time reading about this man. Thanks to the Internet, I could get information on him at the tip of my fingers. Below is the link that I found the text that I posted on Obama erlier:topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html

My Dear Friends!!

About Me

I'm Rowena Francis from the National University of Malaysia. I'm currently pursuing my degree in English Language Studies and aspire to work with the New Straits Times (NST) one day as an editor or columnist.